Bass Meltdown

See those haunting red glows scattered around Toronto?

Those are hundreds of bass players either (1) tearfully burning their instruments after witnessing bass titan Victor Wooten in action, or (2) scorching their fingers trying to duplicate Wooten’s fretboard fireworks. However, those who might reduce the once-and-future-Flecktone’s show to serial bouts of musical masturbation are in for a nasty shock: the Victor Wooten Band also delivered 3 hours of white-hot funk n’ roll to a packed Opera House.

A short film at the beginning showed the central gag of the gig: why is Victor so good on bass? He has 8 arms! The band then jumped into ‘Victa’, a statement of intent (“My name is Victa and I’m a winner . . . just because I come out on top don’t mean I’m leavin’ you out”) that became a raging funkzilla in concert. If Victor can ever reproduce his band’s live energy in the studio, the VWB may get too dangerous for mainstream radio to ignore.

Unlike many instrumental heroes, Victor surrounds himself with a first-rate backing band. 2nd bassist/bass tech/temporary Canadian citizen Anthony Wellington and rapper MC Divinity are both impressive bassists in their own right, drummer Derico Watson brought the funk all night, and vocalist Saundra Williams (who, until 2 months ago, worked as a librarian) struck terror into American Idols everywhere.

DNA also played a large role: Regi (guitar/vocals) and Joseph Wooten (keyboards/vocals) flanked their youngest brother onstage. Both proved that Victor isn’t the only master musician in the Wooten family. Joseph is an excellent keyboardist with formidable vocal chops, and Regi came close to stealing Victor’s thunder. The guitarist threw vocal renditions of ‘Kashmir’, ‘Fire’, and ‘Soul Power’ into his spotlight section, not to mention enough finger taps to send Edward Van Halen back to the woodshed.

[Note to gear hounds: Regi blew minds using a cheap Squier Stratocaster that he paid $90 for back in 1983. It’s all in the hands, kids!]

Great musicianship was only part of the story: the VWB also entertained. Whether it was Joseph imitating DJ scratches using a Theremin and a wah pedal, Regi and Victor either playing each other’s instruments, or making MC Divinity appear in a box, the show was not only an aural spectacle, but a visual one as well. They even livened up a potentially dry subject like “Bass Tribute” (Victor paying tribute to his 4-string forebears) with Victor, Anthony and Divinity playing “Guess that Groove.”

Non-bassists also joined in: Regi imitated Larry Graham’s slap-n’-pop on his guitar, and Joseph played “the greatest bass line never played on a bass” (Can you guess? Answer below). Victor also gave a special shout-out to Robert Wilson of disco funksters The Gap Band. The VWB’s show (and Victor’s Soul Circus CD) tries to recapture a time when the best players played black music, before thousands of DJ’s plundered past glories for quick profit (If Clive Stubblefield had a nickel for every time James Brown’s “Funky Drummer” has been sampled…).

Victor may have tried to honour the classic funk records of his youth (Bootsy’s Rubber Band is an obvious touchstone), but for the hundreds of bassists ringing the stage, Victor was their Jimi Hendrix. Playing his solo spotlight, using a Fodera tenor bass and a looper, Victor reduced his audience to awestruck shock.

Whispered lines like “Are you serious?” “This is disgusting!” “What? No way, man!” or “Honey, your mouth is open” slid around the muted room as Victor dropped quotes from The Beatles, Mozart and Stevie Wonder into his unaccompanied spot, even playing ‘Chopsticks’ at one point. The hushed house exploded into cheers when Victor wrapped things up with his signature take on ‘Amazing Grace’. The band then rejoined Victor for a romp through ‘Me and My Bass Guitar’, complete with bass gymnastics, drumstick tosses, and Victor “outing” his extra appendages on an upper stage.

In short, the Victor Wooten Band delivered arguably the best concert of the year.

P.S. – The greatest bass line never played on a bass? That would be Bernie Worrell’s keyboard groove on P-Funk’s ‘Flashlight’. However, Joseph admitted that Bootsy Collins originally wrote the classic line.

Photograph by Sarah Ternoway